sabato 29 dicembre 2018

"This literature review is
funded by the United Nations Office at Geneva, to inform the report of
the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Disability, Ms. Catalina
Devandas Aguilar. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur is to recall the
universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of
all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with
disabilities to be guaranteed the full enjoyment of these rights and freedoms
without discrimination. The information and views contained in this
research are not intended as a statement of the Special Rapporteur for
Disability, and do not necessarily, or at all, reflect the views held by
the Special Rapporteur. "

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Controlling the behaviour of people experiencing mental health crises by strapping them into beds or chairs or overmedicating them may seem like something that would happen elsewhere, or in the past. Yet it sometimes happens here in Australia, in 2018 and may even be permitted under mental health laws.

While most Australians who experience mental health
conditions can seek help on a voluntary basis, legislation exists to
allow for people with severe mental health conditions to be compulsorily
detained and treated, regardless of their wishes.

A Melbourne
Social Equity Institute research team is examining ways of avoiding
coercive practices to ensure people experiencing mental health crises
are treated with dignity and respect. Most recently, the team undertook
a systematic review of global practices that aim to reduce, prevent and
end coercive practices in mental health settings.

The review was
commissioned by the United Nations Office at Geneva. It will inform a
report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, whose role is to promote the human rights of persons
with disabilities worldwide.

There are several motivations for finding alternatives to coercive
practices in mental health settings. Most notably, persons with mental
health conditions or psychosocial disabilities themselves have
consistently pointed out the human rights implications of involuntary
detention and treatment and have advocated for alternatives.
International human rights law, and particularly the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
has also challenged governments to improve access to voluntary mental
health support and to reduce, prevent and end coercive interventions.

The
review seeks to elevate the perspectives of persons with lived
experience of the mental health system and to emphasise materials
generated by persons with disabilities themselves. Ms Grey is a survivor
of childhood trauma and has an academic background in sociology,
linguistics and mad studies. Ms Roper’s thinking and positioning is
influenced by multiple experiences of being subject to mental health
legislation involving compulsory treatment, detention and restrictive
practices. The list of practices compiled by Ms Grey and Ms Roper – and
supplemented by the literature review – are included in Appendix Three.